Were Fruits Included in the Diet of the Prophet?
Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Question: Assalamu alaykum
I am wondering if we have any knowledge of the percentage of the Prophet’s (Peace and blessings be upon him) diet in fruit. Also, I was wondering, when the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) spoke about eating one meal a day, would this include fruit?
Answer: Wa ‘alaykum as-salam wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh
I pray you are well.
Unfortunately, I was not able to find any details on what percentage of the diet of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) was comprised of fruit. However, experts in the sira and shamaʾil literature, such as Imam Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Qastallani, have noted the he ate fruits in their season.
He mentioned that alongside the benefits to one’s health from doing so, one of the wisdoms of this is that summer fruits are beneficial in summer because they cool one, and winter fruits are beneficial in winter because do the opposite.
Also, I did not come across any narrations where he instructed us to eat only one meal a day. Rather, there are many narrations which state that he and his family (Allah bless them and grant them peace) rarely ate their fill twice a day due to their circumstances. (al-Qastallani, Mawahib al-Laduniyya, al-Tirmidhi, al-Shamaʾil, Jasus, Sharh al-Shamaʾil).
May Allah grant you the best of both worlds.
Wassalam,
[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began his studies in Arabic Grammar and Morphology in 2005. After graduating with a degree in English and History he moved to Damascus in 2007 to study and sit at the feet of some of the most erudite scholars of our time.
Over the following eighteen months he studied a traditional curriculum, studying with scholars such as Shaykh Adnan Darwish, Shaykh Abdurrahman Arjan, Shaykh Hussain Darwish and Shaykh Muhammad Darwish.
In late 2008 he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continued his studies for the next six years, in Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Theology, Hadith Methodology and Commentary, Shama’il, and Logic with teachers such as Dr Ashraf Muneeb, Dr Salah Abu’l-Hajj, Dr Hamza al-Bakri, Shaykh Ahmad Hasanat, Dr Mansur Abu Zina amongst others. He was also given two licences of mastery in the science of Qur’anic recital by Shakh Samir Jabr and Shaykh Yahya Qandil.
His true passion, however, arose in the presence of Shaykh Ali Hani, considered by many to be one of the foremost tafsir scholars of our time who provided him with the keys to the vast knowledge of the Quran. With Shaykh Ali, he was able to study an extensive curriculum of Qur’anic Sciences, Tafsir, Arabic Grammar, and Rhetoric.
When he finally left Jordan for the UK in 2014, Shaykh Ali gave him his distinct blessing and still recommends students in the UK to seek out Shaykh Abdul-Rahim for Quranic studies. Since his return he has trained as a therapist and has helped a number of people overcome emotional and psychosomatic issues. He is a keen promoter of emotional and mental health.
